Avid Readers get their reward from the Lewisham Mayor

Proud students from Lewisham College and Southwark College, and readers from local libraries gathered at the Deptford Lounge on Wednesday 19 June to celebrate.

The Mayor of Lewisham, Cllr Damian Egan, and the Young Mayor of Lewisham, Adam Abdullah, presented them with certificates for taking part in the Reading Agency’s 'Reading Ahead' challenge, and author of the Vinyl Detectives and Doctor Who scriptwriter, Andrew Cartmel, told a spell-bound audience about the work that goes into writing a book.

The Reading Ahead challenge has been in operation for many years and encourages participants to develop their reading skills by reading six books, poems and articles, and then rating and reviewing each one. The challenge takes place every year in colleges, public libraries, and other organisations across the UK, and helps develop more skilled and confident readers. This year, over 600 students signed up to the challenge at Lewisham College and Southwark College with almost300 completing it weeks before the end date.

Sadhana Sutar-Smith, Learning Centre Manager at Lewisham College said: "We believe that reading skills are core skills for living, working and learning, and so we are keen to offer the reading challenge to our students every year.

"This year we introduced reading clubs, which encouraged students to focus on the challenge outside of their lessons”. It was wonderful to see so many of our students, as well as readers from local libraries, feeling proud of their achievements and happy to receive their certificates. Having their achievements acknowledged at the Deptford Lounge by the Mayor, the Young Mayor, and a famous author was really special”.

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Coronavirus update

Lewisham College is closely monitoring all communications and guidance as it becomes available. This information is for students and staff and reflects updates from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Health England (PHE). We are prepared to escalate our contingency arrangements in the event of change.

The government is monitoring the situation closely and will continue to work with the WHO and international community. For staff and students it remains business as usual across our sites and our workplaces.

Please note that, at present, this advice refers only to arrivals from Wuhan, and not the remainder of China. If you have returned from Wuhan you should:

Call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the city. Students should also notify their GP.

Self-isolate for a total period of 14 days following arrival from Wuhan – avoiding contact with other people in the same way as you would in the case of ‘flu. You should do this whether or not you are experiencing any symptoms.